A change of plans

I had mentioned in a previous post that i had planned on stopping by Highland Hardware to spend my bi-weekly tool allowance, and to check on the Veritas Twin Screw vise on Wednesday. Well, I had to change those plans after I picked something up on Monday.

I’ve wanted a hollow chisel mortiser for some time. For small, deep mortises I know of no better approach. Yes, I have been taking on bench and mortise chisels in my hand tool collection, but for the smaller mortises I felt I needed this. I have a huge project coming up hopefully next year that will be fairly intensive on the M&T joinery, and I didn’t want to do all of them by hand; I’d be working on it into my 40s. Plus, they are of the smaller variety this machine excels at.

I had to do eight larger mortises with the help of a drill, and they don’t look pretty. Part of it is my skill level, part of it is the size. I kept rounding over the sides trying to hog material out. I can’t do that with mortises with no shoulder.

So, I picked up this Craftsman unit on clearance on Monday. It will cost me six weeks of my hand tool allowance, but I think it will be worth it long-term. Chisels can wait anyway, as I’ve got what I need to build the bench, and I can’t start on the tool cabinet for a few weeks at the very best.

Speaking of the tool cabinet, a few weeks ago Peachtree had a special on rare earth magnets that I picked up yesterday. These will be crucial to help hold the chisels and planes in place, and I don’t have to worry about sourcing them once the build gets underway. I also picked up a hollow mortise sharpening kit to hone the new tools up to spec.